Sports related injuries and the effects of contact sports on young athletes have gained heightened awareness. In particular, there is increased awareness and concern related to concussions and knee injuries caused during contact sports, especially American football. The concern is prevalent from the professional level down to high school football, and even to younger leagues. While head injuries have taken one center stage, there can be little dispute that the week link in a player's body is the player's knee. Knee injuries occur at all levels of sports, as do head injuries. Further, while the football helmet, for example, has undergone significant development to combat head injury, little has been done regarding padding for other sensitive areas of the player's body, such as the player's knees. Applicants believe that significant strides can be made in the area of preventing knee related injuries in all levels of sports, and in particular in contact sports, such as American football.
Traditional football knee and thigh pads protect the player only from direct contact, and provide little or no side contact or twisting protection. Functional sports braces are available, but are worn typically only after injury and do not include padding. Football players can wear a metallic functional brace along with traditional knee and thigh pads. However, this combination can be cumbersome, heavy and expensive.